Whumptober Day 8: Fever
by sakarrie
Summary: Everyone had been able to tell that Shiro wasn't at the top of his game that morning, but nobody was expecting it when Black had suddenly plummeted mid-battle. Now Pidge must help him until the others can get there. Sick!Shiro


Hey guys!

Creative title, I know. (; I figured this would make it easier for people who later are searching for the whole set, but like, let's be real. I also just suck at titles.

I'm sure a ton of you are wondering where days 1-7 are. I'm going out of order (and I'm also vvvvery behind), so they'll be popping up kinda randomly. Sorry about that!

Also, I know this fic exceeds 1000 words too, which was supposed to be the max, but ehhhh. Only by like 100 wordsish. I don't want to get in the habit of writing _too_ short stories...

Okie, so this day's prompt was, you called it, fever! I know this isn't exactly a new idea, but I've always liked it, so I figured I'l try it out myself. I'm not totally in love with the end result, though. It feels a bit rushed to me, so I may eventually revamp it. For now though, enjoy!

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Pidge looked worriedly back down at their flushed leader. "You guys better hurry." She said into her helmet.

Everyone had been able to tell that Shiro wasn't at the top of his game that morning, but nobody was expecting it when Black had suddenly plummeted mid-battle. Pidge, being closest, had shouted his name, quickly diving after him while the others covered her.

When she had finally reached the fallen lion and rushed into the cockpit, she was greeted by the sight of Shiro, seemingly passed out on his chair. Pidge had raced over, relieved to find no injuries, but his skin was extremely warm to the touch.

Now, pressing a wet rag against Shiro's forehead, she could do nothing but wait for the others to arrive.

" _We'll be there as soon as we can._ " Keith's solemn voice came over the coms. " _How's he doing?_ "

Pidge could hear the worry in his voice and could practically feel the nervous energy from the others. "He's holding up. I think the rag's helping, but I can't be sure."

" _Okay, keep applying it_."

Pidge couldn't help but roll her eyes at this. As if she was just going to _stop._ She understood that Keith just felt the need to do something, though, so she didn't comment on it.

Just then, a small groan came from the man next to her, his face twitching.

"Shiro?" She asked hesitantly. Shiro's eyes opened slowly, blinking up at her.

" _Pidge? What's going on?_ " That was Lance's voice this time.

"I think he's waking up." She responded before turning her attention back to Shiro. "Hey, you awake? How are you feeling?" Her words were rushed and she realised she was terrified of what his answer would be. They weren't sure exactly what was going on and, for all they knew, it could be a lot more serious than they were guessing.

Shiro opened his mouth, his face scrunched in confusion. "...Matt?"

"What?" His words took Pidge by surprise, and her heart clenched at her brother's name. It was probably just the fever talking, but there was no way to be sure.

Before she could remind him who she was, his face flooded with relief and she found herself in a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're okay! I've been searching for you everywhere." Asides from the unnatural heat coming off him, you wouldn't have been able to tell Shiro was even sick, he looked so elated. He pulled back from the hug, keeping his hands are her arms, grinning. "I have so much to tell you. And you'll never believe who I've brought. _Katie's_ with me." He stared at her as if he had just told her it was Christmas, his eyes slightly moist.

Pidge made a choked sound. How was she supposed to respond to that?

" _Pidge?_ " A voice came over the comms. " _What's going on_?"

She didn't respond, however, as Shiro had noticed her distress. His smile fell and contorted with concern. "What's wrong, Matt? It's okay. She's safe. I'm protecting her. And once we find Sam, we can all go back home."

Pidge opened her mouth, but nothing came out. He seemed so sure of himself, so relieved, so... careless. She had never seen him look so happy as he did right now. Who was she to take that away from him?

The voice interrupted again, this time more urgent. " _Pidge! Can you hear me? What's happening?"_

Taking a steadying breath, she replied. "He... he thinks I'm Matt."

It was met with silence, until Shiro's small voice disrupted it. "...What?" It was almost a whisper, and he stared at Pidge in a mix of fear and confusion.

Pidge hated doing this to him, but she had to. "Shiro-"

"No!" Shiro cut her off, shoving himself out of his seat and activating his arm. "If you aren't Matt, who are you?" A look of absolute terror filled his face. "Is this... is this a new type of flashback?"

Pidge didn't even think before cutting off that idea. "No! It's not." Her eyes softened, trying to show him that she was genuinely here to help. "You're sick Shiro. You need to calm down."

But the crazed look didn't go away. "What did you do to me? Why do you look like Matt?" Shiro raised his arm as it changed into a blade.

"Shiro, _please,_ you _need_ to calm down-"

"Get out of my head!" Shiro bellowed, angrier than Pidge had ever seen him before. Suddenly, he raised his arm to strike and Pidge was screaming before she could understand what she was saying.

"It's me, Shiro! It's Matt!" Shiro blinked at her, dazed, slowly lowered his arm. Pidge wished she wasn't doing this, but she didn't know what else would calm him down. He was going to hurt himself if he kept at this.

Thankfully, the fever seemed to be messing with his logic and he seemed to mostly buy it. "But why were you..."

He trailed off as if unsure of where he was going with that, so Pidge took her chance to cut in. "You're sick Shiro. The fever is messing with you."

Shiro nodded, frowning as he processed the information. "But... you're okay?"

Pidge didn't trust her voice so she just nodded. Then, swallowing the big lump in her throat, she said. "The others are on their way."

Shiro smiled slightly. "Good. Your sister's going to be so happy to see you. I've never met anyone as dedicated as her. She's done nothing but search for you, you know. She never lost faith in you."

The words brought tears to Pidge's eyes. She would never admitted it outloud, but on some especially lonely nights, terrible thoughts would try to enter her mind. Questions of what if she were wrong would taunt her. But, here was Shiro, fevered and vulnerable, showing his faith in _her._ "Yeah." She choked out. "She is going to be happy when she sees me." Cause it was going to happen. With the help of her team, nothing could stop her.

" _We'll be there in a few minutes Pidge_." That was Hunk this time and Pidge let out a sigh of relief.

Urging the still burning man to lie back down, she smiled. "The others are coming, Shiro. Just try to get some rest. Everything's going to be okay."

And it would be. She would make sure of it.

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What? Sakarrie writing a fic where the hurt one _isn't_ Pidge? Crazy!

I'm hoping to give all of the paladins a chance in the spotlight during these prompts, but we'll see. Obviously, as you can tell from above, I still seem to put a ton of Pidge, so don't worry Pidge lovers, I don't that'll ever really be going away. (:

Anyway, again, I may revamp this, but this is all for now!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to fav, follow, and review if you have a moment! (:

Y'all are awesome! 

-Sakarrie (:


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